Higher Ground Garden Blog

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Managing bitter lettuce

Here are some ideas about bitter lettuce and how to better manage it during growing, harvesting, and eating.  These different ideas are from the two linked articles below.

For growing we're trying straw mulch and limited shade cloth.  For harvesting we're trying water cooling.  At home the soaking seems to help.

Growing

- Mulch to keep soil cool
- Use high, vented, 30% shade cloth (don't trap heat with full white row covers)
- Ideally plant in Spring and Fall
- Water regularly; organic matter helps retain moisture
- Not too much nutrition, but the right amount to grow fast
- Interplant with taller crops
- Try different varieties

Harvesting

- Immerse in water immediately after picking
- Pick in the morning when plants are less stressed
- Pick new leaves

Eating

- Let it soak in filtered or chlorine-evaporated water for an hour after harvest
- Soak your lettuce for 5-10 minutes in a small amount of baking soda, rinse, repeat, drain and use
- Refrigerate for 1-2 days before using
- Use it as a lightly cooked green (as done with escarole)


Saturday, July 20, 2019

Raw kale salad

Three step kale salad. Can eliminate or substitute items as added below. Can massage dressed kale to soften and wilt then wait 2-3 minutes.

Chef John's Raw Kale Salad, Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon orange juice (or lemon juice)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (or not)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 persimmon, sliced (or not, or tomato)
• 1 apple, cut into matchsticks
• 2 orange, peeled and cut into segments (or peach, plum)
• 1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts (or other nut)

Directions

1. Whisk vinegar, orange juice, Dijon mustard, orange zest, cumin, and red pepper flakes together in a bowl. Slowly pour olive oil into the orange juice mixture, whisking until thick and thoroughly combined. Season dressing with salt and black pepper.

2. Remove stems from each leaf of kale. Stack 3 to 4 leaves of kale and roll together. Finely slice kale leaves crosswise to create thin ribbons.

3. Combine sliced kale, persimmon, apple, orange, and pistachio nuts in a bowl. Add dressing and toss until well coated.